Lily and James: the Sixth year
by love-ends-with-hope
Summary: Lily and James are in their sixth year at Hogwarts, and they both hate each other with a passion. What happens when one of them goes too far? Chap 4 up!
1. The Inkwell

This is my very first Harry Potter story, please be kind and review.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize in this story.  
  
" POTTER!" The now familiar voice of 6th year Lily Evans rang  
  
throughout the Gryfindor Tower. Now, even in only late  
  
September, even the first years had become accustomed to one  
  
or the other of the 6th year rivals yelling at each other early in  
  
the morning. Actually, they were used to them yelling at each  
  
other morning, noon, and night. The red-headed Lily's disposition  
  
was a fiery as her long, beautiful hair. At that moment, James  
  
Potter's constantly messy black hair and sparkling blue eyes  
  
appeared at the top of the stairs leading to the boys dorms.  
  
" You called, Evans, dearest?" He asked in the same smooth, sexy  
  
voice that made most girls fall at his feet, but only served to  
  
further anger the girl in question.  
  
" Yes, Potter, I did." Lily answered, now standing face-to-face, or  
  
rather, face -to-chest, with James at the bottom of the boys  
  
staircase.  
  
" I was wondering exactly why it is that every one of my robes  
  
have been charmed to be invisible?" Only now did the crowded  
  
common room turn its attention towards Lily and James. There  
  
stood Lily Evans in all her glory, in a matching black lace bra and  
  
underwear. This drew blatant stares from the guys and envious  
  
glances from the girls present; it was a known fact that Lily Evans  
  
had the body every girl wanted and every guy wanted his  
  
girlfriend to have.  
  
" I have no idea what you are talking about, I didn't do that,  
  
although I do applaud whoever did, he knew exactly what I was  
  
thinking. I also wouldn't mind if you stayed like that for the rest  
  
of the day, unless someone here will argue with me." He looked  
  
around the room, where everyone was pretending not to listen to  
  
them. " I guess not."  
  
" You sick man whore!!!" screamed Lily, at this everyone lost the  
  
pretence of ignorance; the girls gasped in horror, and the guys  
  
roared with laughter.  
  
" Change it back right now, Potter!"  
  
"But, Lily-Flower," Lily cringed at his pet name for her, " as I've  
  
already said, I did not do this. And even if I did, why would I  
  
deprive us grateful males of seeing the Lily Evans in all her glory,  
  
so to speak?" Answered James without a hit of embarrassment,  
  
Lily, on the other hand, was blushing madly. Whether because of  
  
anger or embarrassment is anyone's guess. James' last speech  
  
earned him jealous sighs from girls who wished that the James  
  
Potter would say something like that about her, and whistles and  
  
Cat calls from the guys, who happened to agree with him fully.  
  
At this massive amount of noise, Sirius Black appeared at the top  
  
Of the boys staircase, clad only in messy black hair and red  
  
boxers, causing at least two girls to faint.  
  
"Now what is all this noise about?" he asked.  
  
" Oh. I see, I'm late for the morning Lily-and-James-flirting-  
  
routine." This earned him murderous glares from both involved.  
  
" So, kiddies, what's today's 'argument' abou-? Sirius didn't get to finish his sentence before he doubled over with laughter upon seeing Lily. " The lovely Lily, how kind of you to show Prongs here what he is missing." Sirius said, once he had regained the use of his mouth. " Shut the hell up, Padfoot," replied James tersely. "Actually, what the lovely Lily-flower here has decided to do is give all of us a glimpse of what we would usually have to pay for. Apparently, her business last night in Slytherin was so good, she decided to-" At this, an outraged Lily lost her temper. " How dare you? You stupid son of a bitch!! How could you even think that?? Let alone say it out loud so the whole world hears you!! Especially since we all know you were with Shannon Michael, that stupid little blonde Slytherin last night?!?" " Jealous are we Evans? And, I wasn't with Shannon last night. I was all alone in my bed. 'Course, I do wish you were there with me, you know, it was pretty cold. But, unfortunately, you were with Lucuois Malfoy last night, we all know that he's the only Slytherin with enough money to afford you all night long." These were the last words James got out before Lily began throwing random objects at his head, for lack of her wand, which was still upstairs in her dorm. 'I should have learned by now never to come down her without it. Oh, well.' She thought. "Ow. Lily. Stop. Lily. Don't. Not the book" James yelps for mercy were all that could be heard for a few minutes. Then James emitted a yell of anguish; he had just taken an inkwell to the head, and bright pink ink ran all down his head and robes. " Evans," he growled, even madder than Lily had been moments before, " clean this up right now!!" " I, uh, I, umm, well, I kinda can't." stammered Lily in response. " What do you mean you ' kinda can't'??" yelled James. " Well,' answered Lily, regaining her confidence, '' that ink, I made it last night, its permanent. But I do have some good news and some bad news for you." " What the hell could possibly be good about this?" asked James, impatiently. " Well," said Lily," it will wear off, in about a week." This sent the silent Sirius into fits of laughter. " How the hell is that supposed to be good?" asked James, grower even madder by the second. " Well, do you want the bad news?" asked Lily. " Yes, please," answered a giddy Sirius. "Its gonna glow orange, purple, blue, and then green, depending on your mood, before it wears off." By now, most off the common room, even the girls who were sympathetic towards James, was doubled up with laughter. Sirius managed to regain his breath long enough to clap James on the back and say " Sorry, Prongs, but she got you good!" He then proceeded to howl with laughter. " Evans, you are going to be sorry for this, I promise that!" Screamed James. " And what are you going to do to the great Lily Evans, pray tell?" asked Lily quietly. " You'll find out soon enough." Said James before storming off to his dorm. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yay! First chapter done! If you want to read more (and you know you do) please review. 


	2. The fight

Lily and James: the Sixth Year Chapter Two love-ends-with- hope  
  
I apologise in advance for my language, there are 3 or 4 swear words in here. Sorry!  
  
  
  
James turned on his heel and stormed up the stairs, followed by Sirius,  
  
whose movements were hampered by the need to pause every other step to burst  
  
out laughing.  
  
"Padfoot, you moron," James said angrily. " This is not funny. I need your help."  
  
"Sorry, Prongs, I can't do anything about the ink, you heard Lily, its permanent."  
  
Answered Sirius, almost gleefully.  
  
"Not with this, you git, I need your help getting Evans back." James replied.  
  
"Oh, no. No way in hell Prongs. Last time I got involved with you and Lily was in the  
  
third year, during your Pranks War. It took a year and a half to get her to talk to  
  
me again! No way, am I doing that again." Said Sirius, very seriously (sorry for the  
  
pun)  
  
"But, Padfoot, old buddy, we make such a great team; you and me, humiliating Evans,  
  
it will be like old times." James said, starting to get desperate.  
  
"What if I didn't like the 'old times '?" Countered Sirius quietly  
  
"Gone all soft for her, have you?" James replied coldly  
  
"No, well, not like that. She's my friend, James, not only will I not help you, but I'm  
  
telling you right now, do not do anything to her." Said Sirius, in a tone that told  
  
James to back off. James, of course, being James, was not one to back off.  
  
"Anything? Not even harmless little pranks?" He asked, almost pleadingly.  
  
"Prongs, there is nothing 'harmless' in your pranks, they are cruel, and spiteful. So  
  
don't you dare." Sirius said roughly  
  
"God damn it, where the hell is the Padfoot I used to know? The one who always  
  
helped me prank Evans? You used to be so much fun, now I don't know what you are."  
  
James was beginning to wonder just what it was that had changed his best friend  
  
so much.  
  
" I am still that Padfoot, I just happen to look out for my friends now." Responded  
  
Sirius, without even thinking about it.  
  
"So, I'm not your friend anymore? Is that what you're saying? How dare you, you  
  
were nothing until you met me, without me, you are nothing, you have nothing."  
  
James responded with anger in his voice.  
  
"You're wrong, James, I still have my pride, at least."  
  
With that, Sirius walked calmly out the door and down the stairs. He sat on the  
  
couch facing Remus (A/N: note the lack of Peter.burn in hell, rat boy!).  
  
"How is he?"  
  
"Well, you know James, Moony. Always in some type of mood or other, I thought it  
  
best to leave him alone for a while. So, on a happier note, what do you say to a game  
  
of Wizard's Chess? Moony, old pal." Sirius replied, not ready to inform his friend of  
  
the hurt James had caused him.  
  
"Feel like being beaten again, Padfoot?" Joked Remus, already summoning the game  
  
from the table I had been left on last.  
  
"Ah, well, you never know when my luck could change." Sirius said, with little hope in  
  
his voice. Just then, James thundered down the stairs.  
  
"What is it with that boy, making dramatic entrances and exits today?" Asked  
  
Sirius.  
  
"You're actually down here, not comforting your mudblood friend?" James asked  
  
Sirius coldly.  
  
"How dare you call her that, you self righteous son-of-a-bitch? Lily is better than I  
  
am, and better than you can ever hope to become. You asshole, how dare you even  
  
think for one second that you're better than her? You know, if she is what muggle-  
  
borns are, and you are what purebloods are, I'm glad that I'm also muggle- born."  
  
At this, James had the grace to looked surprised.  
  
"Oh, that's right, I'm not a pureblood. That's some small detail for my 'best friend'  
  
to forget. You stupid bastard, you never care about anyone but yourself, and you  
  
never will. You know why, cause no one would give you the time of day. You aren't  
  
worth it." Sirius's diatribe was cut short by a punch in the face from James.  
  
" Don't you dare ever insult me, again, you damn mudblood. You and your girlfriend,  
  
Evans, will be sorry you ever crossed a Potter. I will make you very sorry. By the  
  
time I'm done, you'll wish you'd never been born at all. Goodbye, Padfoot." The last  
  
word was said wish such venom, the entire common room went cold. With this, James stormed out of the portrait hole, only to run into Lily Evans herself. "Get out of my way, Mudblood," James said coldly "What did you call me?" "You heard me, Mudblood. That' what you are isn't it?"  
  
For this comment, James was rewarded with a slap across the face. You'll be sorry, Evans," said James as walked passed her.  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~  
  
I'm going to end this here for now, I know it doesn't seem to fit the story now, but it will, when it's done. This chapter didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to, but I seem to be slave to my keyboard here, what are you going do? Liked it? Hated it? Indifferent? Please let me know what you thought of it so far.  
  
I'd like to thank my reviewers: OtterMoon: Thank you for being my first reviewer! You can't know how much it means to me. Glad you liked it, hope this chapter didn't disappoint you too much. Aurgia: Thank you for that, I hope this chapter worked better. Thanks for reviewing. BeCky: I'm glad you liked it, I'm afraid this chapter isn't quite so 'cute' but I can promise there will be cute ones in the future. Saloma: Thank you for the kind review! I'm wondering, do you mind if I use the idea about the ink??? It's much better than anything I thought of! Again, I promise more cuteness in the future. J.M Roliestar: I wrote more!! Yay! Thanks for reviewing! 


	3. Small Comforts

Lily and James: the Sixth Year Chapter three  
  
Same disclaimer applies  
  
Lily walked into the common room, her face a blank mask coving an unbelievable  
  
amount of pain. Sirius recognized the face immediately.  
  
"Lils, what's wrong?" he asked gently, almost fearing the answer.  
  
Lily refused to answer; she simply sat down on the chair opposite Remus, trying to  
  
regain control of her emotions; after all, she was 'Lily Evans- the girl who couldn't give a  
  
damn'. This reputation would have bothered others, but not Lily, she loved it, she encouraged it, she thrived in it.  
  
"Lily, please, tell us, what's wrong." Remus asked, his voice soft, but carrying the  
  
commanding air that allowed him to keep the Marauders in check. Lily merely turned her  
  
head, pretending to be fascinated by the flames dancing in the fireplace, in reality, she  
  
couldn't see them, all she could see was the pain within her own heart. ''Wait a minute,'  
  
she thought, 'my heart? Since when does Potter have anything to do with my heart?' As  
  
she was thinking, Lily failed to see Sirius leave his place on the couch, and kneel before  
  
her.  
  
'Lily,' he said, taking her hands in his own, forcing her to look at him. 'Lily, tell me what  
  
happened.'  
  
This was not a request or a question, Lily realized. Again she remained silent.  
  
'It was James, wasn't it?' Sirius asked, visibly restraining himself from leaving and  
  
tracking down his 'friend.' Lily used his preoccupation to her advantage, in a swift, agile  
  
move, she pulled her hand from his, brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her  
  
arms around them. 'James.' How could one word bring so much joy and so much pain to  
  
her at one time?  
  
"Lily, you have to tell us what's wrong, we can't help you if you don't" Remus, being the  
  
voice of reason, tried to get Lily to see that she had to answer, for her good, and  
  
James'.  
  
"I don't need your help," she said quietly, her voice dead calm.  
  
"Fine, then just tell us what he did."  
  
"Why do you assume he did anything, Sirius?"  
  
"Because, I have never seen you this way and there can only be one reason for it. Him."  
  
"Don't say 'him' in that tone of voice. You make him sound important and respected.  
  
When the reality is, he is neither of those things."  
  
"I have to say 'him' in that tone of voice, its far preferable than what I'd rather say and  
  
how I'd rather say it."  
  
"Now, Lily," Remus broke in, "We need you to tell us exactly what happened. What did  
  
he say? What did he do?"  
  
"No," Lily answered, her voice shaking slightly, but still defiant.  
  
"God, Lily, I don't get it, why are you protecting him? Why?"  
  
"I am not protecting him!" she lashed out, her voice carrying all the anger and pain she  
  
tried so desperately to hide.  
  
"Don't you get it? He's not worth protecting." She added, dangerously quiet once  
  
more.  
  
"What. Did. He. Do?" Sirius asked through clenched teeth.  
  
Remus, seeing Lily's return to silence, spoke up "Lily, did he touch you? Did he hurt  
  
you?"  
  
"In order for him to hurt me, I'd have to let him hurt me. Which I did not do." She said  
  
quietly, her lie echoing in her mind. 'Yes, you did' said a quiet voice, 'you let him in. you  
  
let him get too close. This is all your fault.'  
  
"No it's not!" she screamed, her voice reverberating around the tower, silencing the  
  
room. Sirius stood, sensing trouble far deeper than he had imagined. He leaned over and  
  
picked Lily up from the couch, he carried her across the Common Room to the boy's  
  
staircase.  
  
"Alright," he said, addressing the curious Common Room. "Get back to your own  
  
business."  
  
He carried an unresisting Lily up the stairs, Remus trailing behind them.  
  
Sirius freed a hand and opened the door, Remus closing it behind them. There they  
  
stood, in the middle of a mess, no floor was to be seen, not one bed was made; the  
  
room looked as though a tornado had blown through it, then come back a second time.  
  
"I see you guys cleaned up. Just for me? You shouldn't have," said Lily from Sirius'  
  
shoulder.  
  
"It's not everyday the room looks this good," He answered.  
  
Sirius walked over to his bed, farthest from the door, and gently placed Lily on it.  
  
"Lily, please. I am now officially begging; I need to know what happened."  
  
The care and concern in Sirius' voice and eyes touched Lily in a way she never expected,  
  
she found herself looking at him, tears slowly coursing down her cheeks.  
  
"James," she said softly, her voice beginning to break. "It was James."  
  
"What did he do?" Remus asked, sitting down on the bed next to her.  
  
"He called me a Mudblood." She said, her voice catching on the last word.  
  
"He didn't," Sirius said from his position at her feet on the floor. His voice was hard, his  
  
tone disbelieving; he had known his friend to be an ass before, but he couldn't even  
  
imagine him doing something like this.  
  
"He did," she said quietly.  
  
Sirius stood up and sat on the other side of Lily; he took her in his arms and whispered  
  
comforting words into her soft red hair.  
  
"He didn't mean it, Lily, he's just angry." Remus said softly, almost as though him being  
  
quiet would counterbalance the anger of James' words.  
  
"Oh, no. He may be angry, but he meant it all right." Said Sirius. "He also meant it when  
  
he said it to me."  
  
"He didn't?" Lily said, not realizing she was mirroring his question to her.  
  
"He did." Remus answered solemnly. "I still don't know why, but he did."  
  
Lily looked up at Sirius, waiting silently for an explanation.  
  
"I may have made him a bit angry," Sirius admitted in defeat. "I told him some things  
  
he never wanted to hear or accept, and he told me some things I never expected to hear."  
  
"What things?" asked Remus. Sirius remained silent, holding on to Lily's slightly shaking body.  
  
"Sirius, damnit. Tell me what happened with James. I'm not getting answers from  
  
anyone, I will go find James if I have to, but I'd rather you both tell me what the hell is  
  
going on."  
  
Sirius and Lily both looked at each, then at Remus, both shocked by his use of profanity;  
  
calling it a rarity would be am understatement.  
  
"Alright, Moony. I'll tell you if it will make you happy."  
  
"Yes, Padfoot, my friend. I think it just might."  
  
"Fine. Prongs and I went up to the dorm, me laughing all the way there. By the way,  
  
well done Lily, I don't think we've ever done anything that good."  
  
"Why thank you, Sirius. I must admit, it was brilliant, wasn't?"  
  
"Yes, my dear, I do believe it was."  
  
"Guys!" Remus interrupted, "can we please get back to explaining what the hell's going  
  
on?? Please?"  
  
"Right you are, Moony. I was just getting to that. Well, when we were in the dorm,  
  
James was talking about how badly he wanted to get Lily back for what she did, and  
  
how he needed my help to do it."  
  
"And what did you say?" Lily asked quietly.  
  
"I said no, of course. Which pissed him off royally. Then he told me I was nothing, that I  
  
owed him everything, and a whole lot of other crap that I was really too busy trying not  
  
to punch him to actually listen to."  
  
"That son of a bitch." Lily said, completely forgetting the pain he had caused her as well,  
  
thinking only of what her friend was going through.  
  
"There's worse," Remus added, "he called you a Mudblood, in front of Sirius."  
  
"Oh, no. Sirius, what did you do?"  
  
"It wasn't that bad, I was rather easy on him."  
  
"What did you do, Sirius?"  
  
"I called him an arrogant bastard, among other things, causing him to punch me in the  
  
face." Sirius then turned towards the sunlight, allowing Lily to see the blossoming  
  
bruise on his right cheek for the first time.  
  
"Ouch," she said, "that's going to hurt tomorrow."  
  
"Tomorrow??!" whimpered Sirius, "it hurts now!"  
  
"Ok, so now I have Sirius' story, what's yours Lily?"  
  
"Well, I literally ran into him outside the portrait hole. And...and he c-c- called me a  
  
...a..." Lily could not bring herself to say the word for the second time that day. She  
  
collapsed into Sirius's arms and sobbed into his chest.  
  
"Shh, Lily. It will be alright. I won't let him hurt you like that again. It's fine. Don't let it  
  
get to you. I swear, I am going to kill that boy." Sirius both soothed and threatened  
  
simultaneously.  
  
"It was my fault," said Lily's voice, muffled by Sirius' chest.  
  
"Your fault?? How can this be your fault??"  
  
"I let him hurt me. I let him get too close."  
  
"Look at me, Lily," Sirius said roughly, shaking her slightly. "You did not do this. You did  
  
not deserve this. This is not your fault."  
  
"I did deserve it. I gave him the power to hurt me. I made myself vulnerable."  
  
"You are anything but vulnerable," said Remus stroking her hair softly. "You are the  
  
strongest girl I know."  
  
"I was the strongest girl you knew, until I let him hurt me, until I weakened myself.  
  
Other people call me...that all the time, it doesn't bother me. But, when he said it, it  
  
really hurt. I'm not used to someone being able to reduce me to tears with one single  
  
word. I'm not used to it, and I defiantly don't like it."  
  
"You can't keep people away forever, Lily."  
  
"Your right, Remus, but that doesn't mean I can let them hurt me." Lily's voice was  
  
wavering, as much with pain as with exhaustion; the events of the morning had worn  
  
her out completely. Sirius saw this immediately.  
  
"Lily, you should get some sleep. You're lucky it's a Saturday, you can spend the whole  
  
day in bed."  
  
"I ...I can't go back to my dorm. I can't let them see me like this. Eyes puffy, tears  
  
streaming, hair a mess. I most look a fright." On the contrary, both Sirius and Remus  
  
thought she looked positively stunning, but wisely, neither said anything.  
  
"So go to sleep here, Remus and I will stay in the Common Room and hex the crap out  
  
of anyone who tries to get up here." Sirius stood up and tucked the still semi naked Lily  
  
into bed.  
  
"Sirius," said a small voice within the blankets. "Can you stay with me?"  
  
"Alright, Lils, if that's what you want. Remus, go and find James. Talk to him, beat the  
  
crap out of him. I don't care; just keep him away from her for a while." Remus nodded,  
  
kissed Lily lightly on the forehead and left the dorm. Sirius, realizing that he and Lily  
  
were both in various states of undress, walked over to his trunk and pulled out two pairs  
  
of pajama pants and two shirts.  
  
"Lily," he said softly, waking her from a semi conscious state. "Lily, you'll be more  
  
comfortable if you have some clothes on." Only then did realize that she was about to  
  
get into Sirius' bed, with him, with almost no clothing on.  
  
"Um, Sirius..." Lily started, but stopped as Sirius thrust some clothes at her and pointed  
  
her to the washroom. "Thanks."  
  
Three minutes later, later, Lily reemerged, the invisible robes dangling limply from her  
  
left hand. She slowly padded over to the bed, to find Sirius already there, holding his  
  
arms out to her. Lily lifted the blanket and slid into his warm embrace. She sighed and  
  
began to drift off to sleep. Just when Sirius was sure she was asleep, she said quietly,  
  
"Thank you, Sirius."  
  
"For what?" he asked, barely awake himself.  
  
"For everything. For being the best friend a girl could ever ask for."  
  
"Go to sleep, Lils," he said quietly into her hair.  
  
"James? James, where are you?" Remus was looking high and low for his friend. He  
  
searched everywhere he could possibly be within the castle. He had even searched the  
  
dungeons and the library. He finally decided to try to look outside for him. 'Why. Oh  
  
why did James have to have the Map today?' he wondered, for what must have been  
  
the thousandth time in the last few minutes. Remus was walking over the grounds,  
  
searching for his friend, the star Quidditch player. He stumbled across someone sitting  
  
under a tree, just staring at the lake, someone glowing with a dark blue color.  
  
"I really hurt her, didn't I?" James asked in an emotionless voice; a voice that told  
  
Remus he was feeling more than he wanted to at the moment. 'So much like Lily,' he  
  
mused.  
  
"Yes. You did. I don't know if she's going to forgive you this time. I don't know if she  
  
can. I don't think Sirius will either." Remus said sadly, it hurt him to see his friends so  
  
divided.  
  
"I know," James replied acceptingly. "I don't deserve forgiveness."  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?" Remus asked quietly, he knew not to push James if he  
  
didn't want to talk.  
  
But he also knew James wasn't one to offer information willingly.  
  
"I don't know why I did it. It just happened."  
  
"Was it really about the incident with the ink?" Remus asked, as James turned and even  
  
darker blue than he had been a minute before, now he was near to a navy blue.  
  
"No," he answered, his voice regaining some emotion. "No, I actually thought the prank  
  
was brilliant. I don't know. It's everything, I guess. I'm tired of the way Sirius and I go  
  
through a girl a week, I'm tired of the way I'm seen only as the jock, that there's  
  
nothing more to me, and I'm tired of..."  
  
"Loving Lily?" Remus offered.  
  
"Loving Lily, and having her not love me back." James agreed. "Wait, how did you  
  
know? How long have you known?"  
  
"I've known for months. It's everything. It's the way seeing her makes you smile, it's the  
  
way no other girl holds your interest like she does; it's the way you look at her."  
  
"How do I look at her?" James asked, curious for an outsiders view on it.  
  
"Like she's the only person in the world. Like she's more important than anyone else.  
  
Like you want to protect from everything, forever."  
  
"You can see all that in a look?"  
  
"Not one look, no. Many different looks over the last six years, yes."  
  
"Do you think she knows?"  
  
"She's a girl, James, she probably knew before you did."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Ok, I'm going to be really evil and leave you here with a Cliffhanger (a cookie to anyone who understands why I capitalized that word!) I know I've been really bad about updating this, but from now on, I'm aiming for a chapter every 10 days. Happy reading! Huge Thanks to: Ella27, frostyangels, r7skywalker, OtterMoon, BeCky6, animalluvr75 and Adam Rhame 


	4. Prelude to a Mope

LJ the Sixth Year Chapter 4: Prelude to a mope  
  
Hello loyal fans and new readers! Welcome to chapter 4 of Lily and James: The Sixth Year!! I am deeply sorry for the appalling lack of updates and promise to get better at it! Thanks to all those who take the time to review, I appreciate it! Lots of Love to all writers and readers alike Love-ends-with-hope  
  
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"Lily, Lily. Come on, time to get up. We're gonna miss lunch. " Sirius gently tried to wake Lily up.  
  
"Don't care, lunch." Lily mumbled into Sirius's chest, tuning on her side away from him.  
  
"Come on, Lil. I'm a growing boy; I can not go all day without food. We already missed  
  
breakfast, now we're going to miss lunch! Come on, up and at 'em!"  
  
"You go. I stay here." Lily said, already drifting back to sleep, as she snuggled further  
  
into the blankets.  
  
"Lils, come on, I'm sure Kris misses you."  
  
"Oh my God! I forgot about Kris! She had already gone down to breakfast! I haven't  
  
seen her all morning." She leapt out of the bed and raced for the door.  
  
"See ya later, Sirius."  
  
"Lily, wait!" Sirius called. Lily continued to the door, ignoring him. "You're wearing my  
  
clothes," he finished quietly to himself, watching as the door swung shut behind her.  
  
"Kris, Kris. I'm so sorry." Lily said, gasping for breath as she ran into the Great Hall. "I  
  
forgot about breakfast, and I fell asleep, and now here I am," she finished lamely,  
  
noticing the look her best friend, Kristen O'Brian, was giving her.  
  
"Umm, Lil. Have you seen yourself?"  
  
"No. What's wrong? Is my hair a mess?" She reached up and self consciously smoothed  
  
her hair down.  
  
"Lily, you're wearing Sirius Black's clothes!"  
  
"Oh well, they're comfy." Lily said, shrugging, ignoring the 'thank-God- looks-can't -kill'  
  
looks she was receiving from most of the female population.  
  
"Alright, whatever."  
  
The two girls sat down, Kristen talking excitedly about everything Lily had missed that morning.  
  
"And oh my God, Devon and Laurie came down for breakfast together, like holding  
  
hands. God, I want to kill her! Then, Tyler and Shawn got in a huge fight, apparently  
  
over the last piece of bacon, and they both had to go to the hospital wing. Then Simon  
  
came in and yelled at Krystal for flirting with other guys, and I think they broke up. It's  
  
kinda sad, cause they've been together since 4th year, but she doesn't deserve him, and  
  
he finally figured that out. Then, let's see, what else happened?"  
  
"Whoa, Kris. Slow down a bit, I only caught about half that. It sounded like Devon and  
  
Tyler got in a fight over Shawn, and Simon yelled at Krystal for flirting with Laurie!" Lily  
  
said, watching with amusement, as her best friend paused to take a breath.  
  
The girls sat giggling and talking over they're lunch, sentences colliding midair. As Lily  
  
was pouring her second glass of pumpkin juice, a shadow fell over her. She looked up,  
  
and staring straight back at her were James Potter's gorgeous hazel eyes.  
  
"Lily, I." James began, unusually nervous. What was it about this girl that made him  
  
stutter and babble like an idiot?  
  
"Save it, Potter," Lily hissed as she stood up and brushed past him roughly, on her way  
  
out of the Great Hall. James looked down at Kristen.  
  
"What are you waiting for, you ass? Go after her!"  
  
He nodded at her quickly, and then ran off after Lily. He caught up with her at the  
  
bottom the main staircase, grabbing her by the hand, spinning her around to face him.  
  
"Lily, wait. Please give me a second chance."  
  
"Let go of me, now!"  
  
"No. Lily, I need you to listen to me. I need you to forgive me. Not that I think I deserve  
  
it." He added hastily, seeing the mutinous look on Lily's face. "But you need to  
  
understand something. I.I.I."  
  
"Complete sentences would be appreciated." Lily said harshly.  
  
"I am completely, head over heels, in love with you. It took me a long time to figure it  
  
out, but I did it, in the end, I figured it out. I don't know when it happened, and I don't  
  
know why. But I do know, when I look at you, when I see you smile, when I hear you  
  
laugh, I feel that I could stay in that moment forever. The dimple in your left cheek  
  
when you smile, the sparkle in your eyes when you laugh, they way you tuck your hair  
  
behind your ears when your nervous. You are so amazing, and I'm not sure you realize  
  
this, but you are. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness; and I defiantly don't deserve  
  
you. But please, one chance, it's all I'm asking for." James looked at her, cautious, yet  
  
hopeful.  
  
"I.I can't." Lily's voice was soft. Did she really say she couldn't? She looked down, and  
  
realized that he still held her hand in his. It just felt so right, like that's right where she  
  
was meant to be at that moment and that scared her more than anything else ever had.  
  
"I'm sorry, James. I just, I can't." She bit her lip, looking at him for a moment, pulled  
  
her hand away gently and ran. James watched her go, her every foot step causing him  
  
more pain. Why was it that the only girl he wanted was the one girl he couldn't have?  
  
He sat down on the bottom step of the staircase, and just stared at nothing, his  
  
thoughts a million miles away. Fifteen minutes later, when Sirius and Remus came  
  
looking for James, they found him, still staring at nothing, tears silently coursing down his face.  
  
'James? What happened?' Remus sat down next to his friend. Sirius laughed  
  
humorlessly, recalling him saying those exact words to Lily. Lily.  
  
'It was Lily, right?'  
  
'I told her.' James answered, looking up. His voice was hoarse and hollow, his eyes  
  
shining with the remainder of his tears.  
  
'Told her what?' Sirius asked slowly, knowing, and dreading, the answer.  
  
'I told her that I.That I love her.'  
  
'You didn't. Well, what did she say?'  
  
'She said "I can't".' James answered, considering it an accomplishment that he was able  
  
to repeat her answer with falling completely apart.  
  
'She can't what?' Sirius asked, not understanding how his two friends just couldn't make  
  
it work, even though the whole school knew they belonged together.  
  
'I dunno. She ran away before I could ask her, all she said was 'I'm sorry. I just can't''  
  
He put his head into his hands, not looking at his friends, as he began to lose control of  
  
his voice. Fresh tears began to pour down his face, and a quiet sobbing was heard by  
  
Sirius and Remus. Sirius leaned over, and pulled James up. The two friends looked into  
  
each others eyes, and Sirius instantly pulled his best friend into an embrace, comforting  
  
him silently, just as he had done with Lily. At that moment, Kristen came out of the  
  
Great Hall, saw Sirius and James and asked 'Which way did she go?' James merely  
  
pointed in the direction Lily had fled towards, not trusting his voice at all. Kristen  
  
nodded, gently touching James's hand as she passed him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~~*~~*~*~~*~*~* Lily lay face down on her bed, still in Sirius's clothes, on top of the covers, exactly where  
  
she had been for the last half an hour. She wasn't at all surprised when she heard the  
  
door open and shut quietly, nor when she heard Kristen's voice call out 'Lily?'  
  
'Oh, God, Kris.' She answered, sitting up. 'It's all wrong.'  
  
'I know, honey, I know. It's going to be ok.' Kristen soothed, unsure as to just what was  
  
all wrong.  
  
'No, Kris. It's not going to be ok. It never will be. I'm in love with someone who I  
  
couldn't possibly be with. How is that going to be ok?' Lily was becoming slightly  
  
hysterical, and Kristen could tell by her voice that she had been sobbing.  
  
'Well, I just left a sobbing James, and here I find you in the same state. For the love of  
  
God, would someone tell me what's going on here?!' Kristen's voice was louder than she  
  
had intended, but in her frustration, she didn't bother to apologize.  
  
'He said he loves me.' Lily said softly, once more lying down, not looking at Kristen,  
  
missing the almost comical look of shock on her face.  
  
'He loves you! He LOVES you!!...Wait, if he loves you, why the hell are you both sobbing  
  
your little hearts out?'  
  
'I said that he said he loves me, I didn't say he actually did. It's all part of his I'm-  
  
going-to-prove-to-the-world-that-I-can-get-any-girl-I-want game. And I don't play  
  
games. Besides, how could someone like that love someone like me?'  
  
'What do you mean?'  
  
'I mean, why would someone that damn adorable, someone that funny, cute, charming,  
  
smart, kind, attractive, witty, gorgeous..love some like me?'  
  
'And just what is someone like you?' 


End file.
